Change Healthcare published Payment Integrity Programs: A National Study on the Impact of DRG Audits on Provider Sentiment and Abrasion, a report on the impact payers’ audits of payments to providers have on their business relationship and providers’ finances. Conducted by Frost & Sullivan and commissioned by Change Healthcare, the study reveals these “payment integrity” audits can cost providers as much as $1 million in administrative costs annually and damage the relationships between healthcare providers and their payers. The good news: The research also found high provider satisfaction with novel methods some payers are using to reduce audit costs and the administrative burden for providers. Among the findings: The process of ensuring that payments to providers are accurate is a costly proposition for providers. Payers or their third-party vendors routinely audit claims related to a hospital stay to ensure providers applied appropriate care, utilization, and billing codes to claims. But 8% of providers are spending upwards of $1 million dealing with post-payment audits each year. Another 10% spend between $500,000 and $1 million, and 46% spend $500,000 or less annually. More concerning: 4 out of 10 providers (37%) have no idea what the audit process is costing their organizations. In addition to high administrative costs, nearly a third of providers (27%) report negative experiences related to audit programs. Fueling that negativity: A high number of requests for medical records, often used to validate accurate payment, was cited by 92% of respondents as a source of dissatisfaction. One quarter (24%) say they must respond to more than 500 to over 2,000 requests monthly. And 25% of larger providers consider the overall number of audits unreasonable. On the upside: The research points to new ways payers can help providers reduce the time, cost, and discontent incurred by audits. Among them: “Pre-submission notification,” a process some payers are now using to alert providers of potential errors before the claim is submitted for payment, improves accuracy and reduces the potential for a post-payment audit. Nearly half of providers (43%) say this practice can help them reduce their organization’s administrative burden and associated costs.